For the First Time Ever, the F-35B Takes-Off at Sea With Full Weapons Load and Drops Live-Bombs

Kris OsbornNovember 29, 2016

For the first time in history, the F-35B took off from a ship with a full-load of weapons. Integrating the F-35B will change tactics on-board amphibious assault ships. The Marine Corps F-35B Short-Take-Off-and-Vertical-Landing Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter took off from a Navy amphibious assault ship for the first time with a full load of weapons -- in preparation for its planned deployment in 2018.

The aircraft flew from the Navy's first America-Class Amphibious Assault Ship, the USS America, to Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz., where it dropped live precision guided weapons on mock targets in the desert. The F-35B dropped laser-guided GBU 12s and satellite-guided GBU 32s as part of the exercise; the ordance team aboard the USS America assembled 72-GBU 12s and 40-GBU 32s aboar the ship, Marine Corps officials said.

"Laser-guided bomb (LGB) kits consist of a computer control group and air foil group normally attached to a general-purpose bomb to form an LGB. The dual mode, laser-guided kit enhances existing LGB kits by adding GPS/inertial navigation system capabilities," a Navy statement from Chief Petty Officer John Scorza said.

It’s been a topsy-turvy month for the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons program. Last week, Canadian officials said they were in talks to buy 18 F/A-18 Super Hornets from Boeing as a stopgap measure while they conduct a review to determine what fighter jets the U.S. ally will buy en masse to replace its fleet. The decision dealt a blow to Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which now will have to compete for the business of a country that had once signed up to buy as many as 65 of the stealthy, next-generation aircraft. Then on Sunday, the F-35 program received a bit of good news when Israel approved the purchase of an additional 17 jets.

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Preparations are being made to ramp up production. The Pentagon has declared that two of the three versions of the planes — the Air Force and Marine Corps variants — are ready for combat. The aircraft recently completed tests on the West Coast. And early next year, the Marine Corps plans to deploy its version of the F-35, which can land vertically and take off on a short runway, to Japan.

The F-35 now packs more punch: specifically, the 20-foot Standard Missile, or SM-6, complete with a 140-pound warhead. But not fired from under the wing — rather from a nearby Aegis destroyer. In September, the Marines completed a proof-of-concept test in which a Marine Corps F-35B detected a cruise-missile decoy (a drone), passed targeting information to a remote sensor, and set up a shot by an Aegis combat system of the sort you’ll find on modern destroyers. A battery controlled by the Aegis fired a live SM-6 missile, which took down the drone.

“It was a metal-on-metal engagement from a significant range. I would say more than a tactically significant range. It was a very, very impressive shot to see,” Lt. Col. Richard “BC” Rusnok told reporters aboard the amphibious assault ship America, where the Marines are conducting tests with the vertical-lift F-35B. The test took place at White Sands, New Mexico, aboard the USS Desert Ship facility that the Navy uses for missile tests there.

LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) -- In October, pilots of the 56th Fighter Wing began flying integrated direct support practice sorties in the F-35A Lightning II and the F-16 Fighting Falcon for the first time as a regular component of the training curriculum at Luke Air Force Base.

The integrated training comes as part of the next step in the development of F-35 training and tactics, and helps pilots become efficient in conducting futuristic mission sets and aerial combat scenarios involving both fourth and fifth-generation fighter jets.

“The F-35 has reached a point where we can do both our continuation and upgrade training to a level where integration will benefit both fourth- and fifth-generation pilots,” said Col. David Shoemaker, the 56th Fighter Wing vice commander. “We are now flying dedicated sorties every day to train in F-16 and F-35 integrated direct support.”

The integrated training accomplishes two major training goals, first in exposing F-35 pilots to air-to-air combat scenarios against fourth-generation aircraft capable of mimicking adversaries that pilots would realistically face on today’s battlefields, and second in providing F-35 and F-16 pilots with experience in carrying out joint strike missions.

Wow, ...can act as a UAV and pass target data to a ship so the ship can shoot down targets.... amazing.

So if they spent a fraction of the money they have spent on the F-35 and used that to buy an F-18 that can fly further and faster than an F-35 and can also detect cruise missiles and pass target data to ship... oops no... that might not cost anywhere near as much and no one would make an embarrassing amount of money...

_________________“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

BY JUDAH ARI GROSS AND TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF December 8, 2016, 7:36 pm 3

The first two F-35 jets purchased from the US are expected in Israel on Monday, and will land at the Nevatim Air Base in southern Israel where a reception ceremony will be held. The two will be the first of 50 aircraft that Israel has agreed to purchase from US giant Lockheed-Martin.

The stealth fighters set out from one of the company’s Texas locations this week, making a stop near Portugal, and will land in Italy for the weekend before setting out for Israel on Monday morning, Ynet news reported Thursday.

The Israel Defense Forces sent out a video from one of the American pilots flying the jet, known in Hebrew as the “Adir,” meaning mighty or great, who congratulated the Jewish state on its expected receipt of the aircraft. “It’s a historic moment for you, for the world, and specifically the region, on receiving this jet,” said the pilot who said he goes by the name “Animal.”

The F-35s will fly over the ceremony Monday before landing in front of the audience, Ynet reported. US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter will attend the reception ceremony, as part of a trip to Asia, Europe and the Middle East, the Pentagon said this week.

The US secretary of defense will join Israel’s political and military upper echelon on stage at the event. He is slated to give a speech at the ceremony and host a press conference afterwards with his counterpart Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, the US Department of Defense said in a statement.

The purchase of the exorbitantly expensive planes — at more than NIS 380 million ($100 million) per plane — is possible, in part, due to the defense aid package given by the United States to Israel each year.

“The arrival of the aircraft highlights the close defense cooperation between the United States and Israel,” the Pentagon said. Once the F-35 fighter jets arrive, Israel will be the first country after the United States to receive the fifth-generation aircraft.

The state-of-the-art F-35 is poised to become a central pillar of Israel’s air strategy, a senior air force official told reporters last month. The stealth fighter is considered one of the most advanced aircraft in the world, capable of taking on most missile defense batteries, including the Russian S-300, which was recently acquired by Iran.

With its advanced stealth capabilities, the plane “lets you operate in these kinds of environments,” the officer said. “I’m not saying the S-300 will look for the F-35 and see nothing, but we will have a strong and effective tool in our hands.”

“Today Israel is surrounded by unprecedented military threats,” Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said during an unveiling ceremony for the plane in June. “It is clear and obvious to us, and to the entire region, that the new F-35 — the Adir — will create real deterrence and enhance our capabilities for a long time,” Liberman said.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/first-two-f-35-jets-en-route-to-israel/

Check Out This Photo of an F-35 Thundering Through The “Star Wars” Canyon With Visible Shock Waves

An F-35 performed some high-speed passes through the famous “Jedi Transition” in the Death Valley. Generating visible shockwaves. The image in this post was taken by world-renowned Dutch photographer Frank Crébas in the Death Valley on Dec. 2, 2016.

It shows one of the RNlAF (Royal Netherlands Air Force) F-35A Lightning II with the 323 TES (Test & Evaluation Squadron), the Dutch unit based at Edwards Air Force Base and responsible for the Operational Test and Evaluation Phase (OT&E) as part of the Joint Operational Test Team, piloted by Maj. Ian “Gladys” Knight, the 323TES’s Director of Operations, flying at low altitude through the famous Rainbow Canyon, located adjacent to Death Valley.

As already explained here, the flight through the canyon (dubbed “Star Wars Canyon” for its resemblance to the ones where some of the most famous scenes of the Lucas’s saga were filmed) out into the expanse of Death Valley and referred to as the “Jedi Transition,” has become very popular with photographers from all around the world who daily exploit the unique opportunity to shoot fast jets, warbirds and also airlifters during their transit through the canyon.

Interestingly, this time the F-35s performed a really high-speed pass. Take a look:https://twitter.com/hmmbob/status/805637604917923840

The aircraft was so fast it generated visible shock waves Crébas got thanks to his EOS 1DX mk II, with a EF-200-400 lens, at 1/2500 shutter speed.

“It was extremely windy out there and made it almost impossible to shoot with such a lens.. But I got it nailed ;-)” Frank wrote in a message to The Aviationist. The speed of sound at the surface of the earth is a measure of the speed that a vibration travels through the atmosphere. At sea level, this speed is approximately 760 miles per hour (661 knots).

At speed lower than the transonic region, air flows smoothly around the airframe; in the transonic region, airflow begins to reach the speed of sound in localized areas on the aircraft, including the upper surface of the wing and the fuselage: shock waves, generated by pressure gradient resulting from the formation of supersonic flow regions, represent the location where the air moving at supersonic speed transitions to subsonic.

Starting with today's meeting with the big bosses. Not the kind of meeting they wanted at Christmas, the time of generosity, to them, not to the Government!

Incoming US president Donald Trump called the Lockheed Martin F-35 “very expensive” and vowed to bring down the stealth fighter’s costs after a 21 December meeting with the chief executives of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

“We’re going to get the costs down and we’re going to get it done beautifully,” Trump told a pool reporter after emerging from a meeting with Marillyn Hewson and Dennis Muilenburg.

JohninMK wrote:Starting with today's meeting with the big bosses. Not the kind of meeting they wanted at Christmas, the time of generosity, to them, not to the Government!

Incoming US president Donald Trump called the Lockheed Martin F-35 “very expensive” and vowed to bring down the stealth fighter’s costs after a 21 December meeting with the chief executives of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

“We’re going to get the costs down and we’re going to get it done beautifully,” Trump told a pool reporter after emerging from a meeting with Marillyn Hewson and Dennis Muilenburg.

Trump's onto something here. F-35 is a great plane and all. Sure, I believe F-35B is a great choice for the USMC. But it should be more of a limited niche strike fighter when it comes to the USAF (F-35A). The planned procurement numbers for USAF are insane, too many planes and too expensive. An F/A-18E/F can do most of the jobs the F-35A will be tasked to do, i.e. missions that will require external loads (and thus kiss LO bye bye).

It would make more sense to keep the F-15E going as basically a cheap tactical bomb truck, upgrade a number of F-15C/D with AESA needed in CONUS with ANG. Then replace every single F-16C/D with Super Bugs and token F-35A squadrons. The latter can be kept abroad (USAFE, USAFJ, etc.) for strike missions and interventions, where the LO characteristics will be needed. But seriously more than 500-600 F-35A in USAF service shouldn't be needed.

USN already operates Super Bugs, so their planned F-35C numbers are pretty much correct and realistic.Same for the USMC's need for F-35B and some F-35C (Hornet and Harrier replacement).

I would disagree with the F-35 being a great aircraft, for there is nothing that it does that another aircraft could not do better, including sensor fusion and data-linking, and that's assuming that it would work reliably in the first place.

Its critical flaw is trying to be a VSTOL aircraft... if you removed that requirement you would basically have a stealthy F-16... much like the F-22 is supposed to be a stealthy F-15.

the amusing thing about really expensive things is that when you cut numbers you actually make them even more expensive...

This should be amusing.

_________________“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

GarryB wrote:Its critical flaw is trying to be a VSTOL aircraft... if you removed that requirement you would basically have a stealthy F-16... much like the F-22 is supposed to be a stealthy F-15.

the amusing thing about really expensive things is that when you cut numbers you actually make them even more expensive...

This should be amusing.

True. But decreasing procurement numbers (from 1.3k to 0.5k) saves up on future operating & maintenance costs vis a vis the ones for a Super Bug or Silent Eagle. My gut feeling is that the Lightning II will require lots of work on the ground, probably much more than known quantities like the previous fighters.

I agree that the F-35B is the perfect Harrier replacement and the F-35A can take some work off the Viper when it comes to first strike utilizing LO. And that's where its utility ends. All the ''uber'' sensor fusion implemented on it can be just as well applied on Eagles, Vipers or Super Bugs.

Another, down like a lead balloon in the Pentagon, update from Gilmore, his last, these are the first and last paras of another long article. Doubt we will read more of these once he's gone, they get more embarrassing as time goes on.

Just look at the astonishing quantities made before it gets to the initial operational test and evaluation IOT&E starting in 2018/9. How about 490 delivered with a probable 452 ordered and on the way. This is overlapping R&D and production gone crazy. If only the upgrade to full Block 3F capability was as simple and cheap as a software update It isn't, it involves serious hardware and software plus airframe upgrades. Nightmare down the line with multi versions. Then there is the operationally critical maintenance system ALIS, another pit of missing features. There is a huge cost pre-loaded in there. If I was an overseas customer I'd be pretty nervous. If I was a potential adversary I might be hard pressed not to describe the product as 'brilliant', with a silent 'for me'.

In his last scathing report on the F-35, outgoing top Pentagon weapon tester Michael Gilmore gave early 2019 as an optimistic target date for initial operational test and evaluation. Even as the F-35 Joint Programme Office plans to reduce time in developmental testing in order to move ahead with IOT&E, Gilmore warns that hundreds of deficiencies will push full combat tests to late 2018 or early 2019 at the earliest.

By continuing their pursuit of a block buy for lots 12 through 14 before completing IOT&E, Gilmore argues the JPO is flouting the “fly before you buy” approach. The block buy would deliver 452 aircraft in addition to the 490 procured under lots 1 through 11, a hefty procurement before full-rate production.

JohninMK wrote:Another, down like a lead balloon in the Pentagon, update from Gilmore, his last, these are the first and last paras of another long article. Doubt we will read more of these once he's gone, they get more embarrassing as time goes on.

Just look at the astonishing quantities made before it gets to the initial operational test and evaluation IOT&E starting in 2018/9. How about 490 delivered with a probable 452 ordered and on the way. This is overlapping R&D and production gone crazy. If only the upgrade to full Block 3F capability was as simple and cheap as a software update It isn't, it involves serious hardware and software plus airframe upgrades. Nightmare down the line with multi versions. Then there is the operationally critical maintenance system ALIS, another pit of missing features. There is a huge cost pre-loaded in there. If I was an overseas customer I'd be pretty nervous. If I was a potential adversary I might be hard pressed not to describe the product as 'brilliant', with a silent 'for me'.

In his last scathing report on the F-35, outgoing top Pentagon weapon tester Michael Gilmore gave early 2019 as an optimistic target date for initial operational test and evaluation. Even as the F-35 Joint Programme Office plans to reduce time in developmental testing in order to move ahead with IOT&E, Gilmore warns that hundreds of deficiencies will push full combat tests to late 2018 or early 2019 at the earliest.

By continuing their pursuit of a block buy for lots 12 through 14 before completing IOT&E, Gilmore argues the JPO is flouting the “fly before you buy” approach. The block buy would deliver 452 aircraft in addition to the 490 procured under lots 1 through 11, a hefty procurement before full-rate production.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...s-to-2-433177/

The delays, stupidity and retardation with this program is absolutely appalling. Trump needs to end this.

Not to mention the risks to the networks covering the parking and deployment areas of the F-35. If the Russians can influence the US election, getting at a cable on an airbase should be a piece of piss

Just when you thought the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter team had covered every base to protect the most expensive weapons program in world history, the US Air Force is now calling all hands on deck to buttress the F-35 from cyber threats.

"Threats are changing, and this is not the environment we grew up in," Peter Kim, Chief Information Officer at USAF said recently. The air force, like other military branches, has considered IT systems the primary arena for implementing cybersecurity measures. As the program develops, Kim noted that cyberspace needs to be better secured, since many of the F-35’s weapons systems hinge on functioning computer networks.

Specifically, Kim points to the F-35’s sensor-fusion capabilities. A sensor fusion "gathers information from the aircraft’s multiple onboard sensors to create a single integrated picture of the battlefield," per Lockheed Martin, the jet’s manufacturer. The company lists the sensor fusion second on the list of "six capabilities only possible in the world’s most advanced fighter jet."

Given the seemingly endless issues that continue to ground the F-35, one wonders how the plane’s architects did not consider that cyber-invasions might compromise 'mission assurance.' Lockheed Martin specifically indicated that information obtained via sensors is shared with the rest of the fleet through "secure datalinks."

The US Air Force may be emphasizing cyber-related measures, due to the complexity of the F-35. A real-time virtual-reality display is built into the pilot’s helmet. The jet’s 'nerve center,' or Autonomic Logistics Information System, provides ongoing maintenance assistance and equips pilots with mission-planning capability. The F-35’s Electro-Optical Targeting System uses lasers for reconnaissance purposes and to deliver laser- and GPS-guided missiles and weapons. By penetrating even just one weapon system on the plane, the F-35 network could be thrown into jeopardy in an instant.

“How do we start building resiliency? When something touches a weapons system, it will touch a network," Kim said.

One tactic the USAF has taken to bolster cyber defense is to activate "cyber-squadron" pilot programs. The service dedicates teams at airbases around the world to conduct cyber-patrol missions of key networks, according to Kim.

The overarching aim is to "operationalize" with built-in cybersecurity technologies to "support the combatant commander more than we ever have in the past," said Col. Robert Cole, director at the air force "Cyber Forward" program.